Business Communication: Communication Fundamentals

Communication
Fundamentals
Prof. Nikhil Bangde
Asst. Professor, S. B. Jain Institute of Technology,
Management & Research
UNIT I

Communication
 Communication is derived from the Latin word
‘communis’ which means ‘common’ and thus, if a
person effects communication, he establishes a
common ground of understanding.
 Literally, communication means to inform, to tell,
to show, or to spread information.
 It can be interpreted as an interchange of thought
or information to bring about understanding
Prof. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Communication
 “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas,
opinions or emotions by two or more persons.” –
George Terry
 Effective communication is “purposive
interchange, resulting in workable understanding
and agreement between the sender and receiver
of a message”.– George Vardman
 Communication is any behavior that results in an
exchange of meaning. – The American
Management Association

Elements/Factors in Communication
Process
1) Sender
2) Message
3) Media
4) Receiver
5) Feed Back

Communication Process

Business Communication
 Fundamentally Based on 4 pillars:
i) Listening Skills
ii) Speaking Skills
iii) Writing Skills
iv) Reading Skills
 Equipped with these 4 skills you will become a
successful executive, manager or professional in
your own field.

Meaning of Communication
in Business
 It is all about communicating in business with
certain standards professionally that are
acceptable to all
 Helps communicate effectively with etiquette
and accomplish business objectives effectively
 Broadly Divide into:
i) Internal communication: Reports, Memos &
Proposals
ii) External communication: Letters, Tenders etc

Types of Business
Communication
1) Verbal Communication:
 Communicating with words, written or spoken.
 Verbal communication consists of speaking, listening,
writing, reading, and thinking
2) Non-verbal communication:
 It is a wordless message
 Conveyed through
o gestures (sign),
o movements (action language)
o Further non-verbal communication can be identified by
personal space (proxemics), sense of smell (olfactics),
sense of touch (haptics)and time (chronemics).Prof. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Types of Business
Communication
3) Formal Communication
 Communication that is formally controlled by managers or
people occupying positions in an organization.
 Information flows orderly, timely, and accurately.
 Any information, decision, memo, reminder etc. will follow
this path in an organization.
4) Informal Communication
 It is not officially sanctioned, and quite often it is even
discouraged.
 But, then, it is very much there, also called ‘grapevine’
precisely because it runs in all directions-horizontal, vertical,
diagonal.

Types of Business
Communication
5) Downward Communication
 Supervisor to employee
 At first communication flows downwards only.
6) Upward Communication
 From lower hierarchical level to higher level
 Is essential for growth of organization
7) Horizontal/ Lateral Communication
 Interaction between organizational units
on the same hierarchical level
8) Diagonal Communication
 Flow of information among persons at different levels who
have no direct reporting relationships.

Purpose/ Objectives of
Business Communication

Communication
1. Information Sharing
2. Feedback
3. Influence
4. Problem-solving
5. Assists in decision-
making
6. Facilitating change
7. Group building
8. Gate keeping
9. Conveying the right
message
10. Helps in Co-
ordination of Effort
11. Good industrial
Relations
12. Motivating People
13. Job instruction
14. Controlling people

Essentials of Effective
Communication
1) There has to be right synchronization between the
speaker and the listener.
2) The sender must take feedback from the receiver
from time to time through his or her body language.
3) Avoid use of technical jargon which becomes difficult
for non technical listener.
4) Choose the right medium and channel to convey
your message
5) Keep profile & personality of listener in view and
communicate: Don’t speak on subjects in which
listener is not interested.
6) Receivers don’t appreciate information overloadProf. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Essentials of Effective
Communication
7) The senders must slice the complicated contents
into pieces to ensure effective takeaways among
receivers.
8) Senders must prepare well mentally before
delivering the message to enable the receivers to
receive it properly
9) Senders must set the context first and then deliver
the content to avoid distortion of facts and truths so
that they don’t misunderstood.

Essentials of Effective Business
Communication7 C’s of effective
communication in
Business
4 S’s for effective
communication in
Business
i. Completeness
ii. Conciseness
iii. Consideration
iv. Clarity
v. Concreteness
vi. Courtesy
vii. Correctness
i. Shortness
ii. Simplicity
iii. Strength
iv. Sincerity

7 C’s of effective communication in
Business
7
C’s
Completeness
Conciseness
Consideration
ClarityCorrectness
Courtesy
Concreteness

7 C’s of Effective Business
Communication
1) Completeness
 Communication must be complete & should convey
all facts required by the audience.
 A complete communication has following
features:
o Complete communication develops and enhances
reputation of an organization.
o A complete communication always gives additional
information wherever required. It leaves no questions
in the mind of receiver.
o Complete communication helps in better decision-
making by the audience/readers/receivers of message
as they get all desired and crucial information.

Communication
2) Conciseness
 Means wordiness i.e, communicating what you
want to convey in least possible words.
 Concise communication has following features:
 It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.
 It underlines and highlights the main message as it
avoids using excessive and needless words.
 Concise communication provides short and essential
message in limited words to the audience.
 Concise message is more appealing and
comprehensible to the audience.
 It is non-repetitive in nature.

Communication
3) Consideration
 Effective communication must take the audience
into consideration i.e, the audience’s view points,
background, mind-set, education level, etc.
 Features of considerate communication are as
follows:
 Emphasize on “you” approach.
 Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the
audience. This will stimulate a positive reaction from
the audience.
 Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on
“what is possible” rather than “what is impossible”. Lay
stress on positive words such as jovial, committed,
thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.

Communication
4) Clarity
 Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific
message or goal at a time, rather than trying to
achieve too much at once.
 Clarity in communication has following features:
 It makes understanding easier.
 Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the
meaning of message.
 Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and
concrete words.

Communication
5) Concreteness
 Concrete communication implies being particular
and clear rather than fuzzy and general.
 Concreteness strengthens the confidence.
 Concrete message has following features:
 It is supported with specific facts and figures.
 It makes use of words that are clear and that build the
reputation.
 Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.

Communication
6) Courtesy
 Implies the message should show the sender’s
expression as well as should respect the
receiver.
 The sender of the message should be sincerely
polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic.
 Courteous message has following features:
 Courtesy implies taking into consideration both
viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver of the
message.
 Courteous message is positive and focused at the
audience.
 It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver
of message.

Communication
7) Correctness
 Correctness in communication implies that there
are no grammatical errors in communication.
 Correct communication has following features:
 The message is exact, correct and well-timed.
 If the communication is correct, it boosts up the
confidence level.
 Correct message has greater impact on the
audience/readers.
 It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts
and figures used in the message.

4 S’s for Effective Business
Communication
1) Shortness
 If message is brief and verbosity done away with, then
transmission and comprehension of messages will be
faster & more effective.
 Being verbose don’t create a very lasting impact, as most
of the time of the receiver is lost in deciphering and
comprehending the message.
2) Simplicity
 Simplicity both in the use of language an ideas reveals a
clarity in the thinking process.
 Simplicity should be reveled in the communication by
using simple terminology and equally simple conceptsProf. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

4 S’s for Effective Business
Communication
3) Strength
• The strength of the message comes from the credibility
of the sender.
 Half hearted statements add a touch of falsehood to the
communication process.
4) Sincerity
• If the sender is genuine and sincere, it will be reflected in
the manner he/she communicates.
 Suppose if there is deceit involved in the interaction and
the receiver is a keen observant, he would be able to
sense the make believe statement and so
communication will not be fruitful.Prof. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Myths of Communication
1) Assuming is not communicating
2) Your Language is more important than
communication
3) What you communicate is more important than how
you Communicate
4) Oral communication is the real communication
5) Context in your communication is not important

Challenges in communication
1) Information Overload
2) Usage of Jargon
3) Inconsistency between oral & body language
4) Avoid Noise
5) Dearth of substance in senders stuff

1) Semantic barriers
2) Organizational barriers
3) Interpersonal barriers
4) Individual barriers
5) Cross Cultural (geographic) barriers
6) Physical Barriers/Channel and media barriers
7) Technological barriers
Barriers to Effective Communication

Barriers
Semantic
barriers
Organizational
barriers
Interpersonal
barriers
Individual
barriers
Cross Cultural
barriers
Physical
Barriers
Technological
barriers

1) Semantic barriers
• Different people assign different meanings to one specific
message.
• Due to problems with meaning, significance, sending &
reception of the meaning and content of the message.
• Various types of semantic gaps found are:
a) Words having similar pronunciation but multiple
meaning
Ex: sight, site, cite
b) Badly expressed message
Ex: Lack of clarity and precision make the message badly
expressed.

1) Semantic barriers (Contd…)
c) Wrong interpretation
Ex: 'kaka' means uncle in one part of the country but small boy in
another part of the country
d) Unqualified assumptions
e) Technical Language:
Ex: Mouse is an animal but in computer jargon it is a device

2) Organizational barriers
 Due to the problems with physical distance between
members .
 Related to functional specialization of tasks, power, authority
and status relationship, values held and ownership of
information.
 Various types of organizational gaps found are:
a) Organization culture and climate
 Climate and culture of an organization influence the freedom,
thrust and interaction pattern among people in an organization
b) Organizational rules and regulations
 Ex: May be so rigid that they may influence the flow of information

2) Organizational barriers (Contd..)
c) Status relationships
 Status, power and position relationship acts as the hurdle in
the effectiveness of communications.
d) Complexity in organizational structure
 Ex: Hierarchical structure is too tall or too much of
divisionalisation.
e) Inadequate facilities and opportunity
 Organization may not have adequate communication
facilities, equipment and mechanisms.
f) Lack of cooperation between superior and subordinate

3) Interpersonal Barriers
 Based upon the relationships, values held, and
attitudes of the participants in the process of
communication.
 If sender and receiver are not of same economic,
educational & status level then there is chance of
miscommunication.
 Barriers can emerge from both superiors and
subordinates.

Barriers to Effective
Communication
3) Interpersonal Barriers (Contd)
Barriers emanating
from superiors
• Shortage of time for
employees
• Lack of trust
• Lack of consideration
for employee's needs
• Wish to capture
authority
• Fear of losing power
of control
• Information overload
• Bypassing
Barriers emanating from
subordinates
• Lack of proper channel
• No interest to
communicate
• Lack of cooperation
• Lack of trust
• Poor relationship
between superior and
subordinate
• Fear of penalty

4) Individual / Psycho-sociological Barriers
 Barrier arises due to differences in individual
competencies to think and act.
 The meaning assigned to a message depends upon the
emotional or psychological status of both the parties
involved in the process of communication.

4) Individual / Psycho-sociological Barriers
(Contd..)
 Various types of Individual / Psycho-sociological Barriers
found are:
a) Style
b) Selective Perception
c) Halo Effect
d) Status relationship
e) Poor attention and Retention
f) Inattention
g) Undue importance of written words
h) Closed Mind
i) State of Health

5) Cross - Cultural/ Geographic Barriers
 Individual's manner of talking, behaving and thinking,
that communication style and competence are
influenced by culture.
 Some of the significant differences between cultures
are:
(a) National Character/ Basic Personality
(b) Language
(c) Values and norms of behavior
(d) Social relationships
(e) Concepts of time
(f) Concepts of space
(g) Non verbal communication

6) Physical Barriers/Channel and media barriers
 Insufficiently insulated rooms with car noises, poor
lighting, frequent movement of bodies postures,
telephone interruptions.
 These obstacles prevent a message from reaching
the intended recipient.
 The following obstacles are considered under this
category:
1) Noise
2) Environment: Due to external transreceivers,
number of links in the chain and circumstantial
factors
3) Defects in the Medium

 Semantic Barriers : different meanings assigned to same
words by different people or difference in interpretation
 Organizational Barriers: Arising out of to Organizational
Policies, Culture, Climate, Rules, etc
 Interpersonal Barriers: due to the relationship between the
sender and receiver, especially between Superior and
subordinate
 Psycho sociological/ Individual Barriers: Arising due to
personal characteristics of the sender and receiver and factors
like filtering, style, state of health, etc.
 Cross Cultural Barriers: Arising due to difference in Cultural
Values and Beliefs of sender and receiver. They may be on
account of difference in Language, National Character, Time,
etc.
Summing up Barriers to Effective
Communication

i. Fostering good relationship
ii. Purposeful and well focused Communication
iii. Coordination between superior and
subordinates
iv. Avoid technical language
v. Right Feedback
vi. Clarity in message
vii. Communication of organizational philosophy
viii.Flat organizational structure
ix. Minimize semantic problem
x. Proper communication channels
Measures to overcome Barriers to
Effective Communication

• Listening is a very important aspect of oral
communication.
• All hearing is not listening, but listening is
purposeful hearing.
• Listening is a four-stage self-generated activity:
i. First stage is the reception of the sound waves through
the ears.
ii. Second stage is the interpretation of the sound
received.
iii. Third stage is evaluation of the interpreted meaning in
the context of the needs and expectations of the listener.
iv. Fourth stage is the reaction to the message.
Listening

 A business communicator has to listen to various
customer, employees, officer, suppliers, financiers
etc. Obviously, it is an unavoidable task for a
business person.
 The important reason as to why a business
communicator should known about listening are:
i. To gain new information and ideas
ii. To question and test evidence and assumptions
iii. To be inspired and motivated
iv. To improve overall communication
Purpose of Listening

Barriers
to
Listening
Prejudice
against the
speaker
External
Distraction
Thinking
speed
Premature
evaluation
Language/
Semantic
stereotype
Sluggishne
ss
Delivery
of speech
Barriers / Obstacles to Listening

Barriers / Obstacles to Listening
1. Prejudice against the speaker
Sometimes the speaker conflicts with our attitude
2. External Distraction
Noisy fans, poor light, distracting background music,
overheated or cold room distract a listener’s attention
from the speaker’s message.
3. Premature evaluation
When the listener starts evaluating the message during
the process of listening, he/she is not attentive enough
to the message.Prof. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Barriers / Obstacles to Listening (Contd..)
4. Thinking speed
Most people speak between 80 and 160 words per min.
Whereas, people have the ability to think at the rate of
up to 800 words per min. Despite this fact, the listener
may have slower thinking process due to the following
reasons:
i. Competition of concentration:- The listener could not
concentrate on the message because he has many
things to think besides listening to the message.
ii. Doing some other activity:- The listener might be
involved in doing some other activity.

Barriers / Obstacles to Listening (Contd..)
5. Language/ Semantic stereotype
If the speaker using words, accent or structure of
language with which the listener is not familiar also
topics to which the listener has emotional and
psychological belongingness.
6. Delivery of speech
A monotone can easily put the listener to sleep or
cause him to lose the interest.
7. Sluggishness
If the listener is mentally or physically tired, or habitually
lazy, he would feel difficulty in listening to the message.Prof. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Guidelines to Effective Listening
1. Preparation before Listening
a)Stop talking b)Remove distraction c)Good
environmental conditions
2. Listening to understand, not to refute
Listener may have reservations but despite these
reservations, the listener should try his best to
understand the message.
3. Focusing the attention
Listener should construct a mental outline of where the
speaker is going in his speech.
4. Concentration on contextProf. Nikhil Bangde, Asst. Professor

Guidelines to Effective Listening
5. Taking notes
Listener should keep on taking notes. Hence, he should jot
down ideas rather than sentences.
6. Curbing the impulse to interrupt
One should avoid interrupting the speech until the speaker
invites questions
7. Asking questions
Asking right question on right time is quite different form
interruption.
8. Summary & Evaluation
The listener should summarize and speech but not during

Business Communication: Communication Fundamentals

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (13)

Similar to Business Communication: Communication Fundamentals (20)

More from S.B. Jain Institute of Technology, Management & Research (8)

Recently uploaded (20)

Business Communication: Communication Fundamentals